The conference, the first of its kind, took place on Wednesday November 30th 2016 in Novotel, Wangfujing in the heart of Beijing. Dignitaries attending the conference included diplomats from embassies of African countries in China such as Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin, Rwanda and South Sudan. Mr. Dee Zhang, international department deputy director, represented the China-Africa Industrial Forum and China WTO Africa Affairs Committee. Vice president Tian Wenhui represented the China-Asia Economic Development Association. CEOs of companies doing business in Africa, leaders of governmental and non-governmental organizations in China working in Sino-African relations, young entrepreneurs, researchers as well media personnel, in 5hours, examined issues regarding business and development in Africa from three perspectives; agribusiness, urban infrastructure and energy.
The African Chamber of Commerce (AFCHAM) organized the conference as a first of a series of upcoming conferences aimed at gathering stakeholders in Africa’s booming construction industry. Opening the conference, AFCHAM’s sitting chairperson D. Nkwetato Tamonkia delivered a speech in which he emphasized mainly on the need for all plans on the development of Africa to involve Africans. He frowned on policies made for Africa outside the continent without the participation of Africans. “Build with Africans” He put it in short. He called on companies doing business in Africa to “grab but grab with care, care for the environment, care for the underprivileged and care for social issues.” Among other things, he announced the introduction of the AFCHAM Corporate Social Responsibility program to help companies and organizations have a more positive impact on the African society.
The conference moderator Mr. Daniel Ntui, chief strategist at AFCHAM, lauded the efforts and sacrifices attendees had made in order to be present at the conference. He introduced six keynote speakers who made presentations on six different topics:
Ms. Ada Shiferaw, the first keynote speaker from Ethiopia, talked about the abundant opportunities for business and growth in agribusiness in Africa. Drawing from her experience working with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Mechanization Sciences, she presented stunning facts and figures showing fertile areas for investment in the sector.
The next keynote speaker was an experienced South African agro-business entrepreneur Mr. Buyambo Mantashe who elaborated on some of the points that had been raised by the previous speaker and drew particular attention to investment opportunities in South Africa. He highlighted recent measures taken by the South African government to facilitate the growth of the agribusiness sector. He pledged his availability and unconditional support for any projects investors had in mind for Africa in general and South Africa in particular.
Architect Daan Roggeveen; founder of More Architecture took to the floor next, to share his research experiences on urbanization in China and Africa. The Dutchman juxtaposed urban growth in China with that of Africa using as case study, one of his projects, the ongoing Accra city expansion mega project, a project he hoped could become a point of reference for similar projects in future in Africa.
The next presentation was on the recently launched AFCHAM Corporate Social Responsibility program. The program was presented to participants at the conference by the duo Emily Yeates and Tova Levin from the United Kingdom and the United States respectively and both working at AFCHAM. The two young ladies explained the objectives and advantages of the program. They said the CSR rating system developed by AFCHAM would henceforth distinguish companies doing business in Africa while giving back to the society from companies only interested in exploiting resources without any care for the society. Many representatives of large companies at the conference immediately rushed to consult the paperwork for the CSR program that had been laid out prior to the conference.
The last segment of the conference had two keynote speakers. First, the Global Marketing Director of GCL System Integration Technology Co., Ltd Algerian-born Mr. Laid Sahraoui drilled the audience on the indispensability of energy, especially solar energy, to the development of Africa. He reproved the popular belief that solar energy was expensive and not affordable to the poor by illustrating how cheap, available and easy to set-up the technology had become. He presented small, medium and large-scale quick plug-and-play solar energy solutions which he believed could go a long way to curb frequent outages in Africa as well as provide off-grid, remote and or enclave areas with energy while saving cost as the case is in Northern African countries.
The last keynote speaker for the day was the founder and Managing Director of SIVECO China, Mr. Bruno Lhopiteau. The Frenchman drew from his 18-year experience in maintenance consultancy to show the disparate approaches in construction by Chinese and Western construction companies while pointing out the merits and demerits of both approaches. Stressing on the importance of ensuring the sustainability of infrastructure, he outlined the fact that many countries in Africa allow construction companies to engage in multi-million dollar projects without taking into consideration this aspect only to find out later that more money needs to be spent on huge repairs or entire malfunctioning facilities need to be abandoned.
The quality of questions participants asked at the end of each presentation was good proof of how enriching and enlightening the conference had been. As the conference came to an end, participants, eager to mingle and socialize with other participants were seen shaking hands, hugging and exchanging business cards while the stage was cleared for souvenir picture poses in front of the backdrop with AFCHAM partners, member companies and sponsors.
The after conference party was an exquisite inter-continental buffet style dinner at the VIP dining section of the hotel which lasted until late. Big thumbs up to team AFCHAM as absentees itch for the second conference which sources close to AFCHAM management say will likely be coming up early in 2017.
Daan Roggeveen is an architect based at MORE Architecture in Shanghai, a multidisciplinary design office working internationally. MORE is currently involved in projects in China, Holland and Ghana with a planned extension for Accra, Ghana. Since graduating from Delft University of Technology in architecture and real estate, Roggeveen has extensively researched African and Chinese Urbanization releasing numerous research papers and a book in 2011 titled How the City Moved to Mr Sun- China’s New Megacities. Beyond that, Roggeveen has lectured on a regular basis and has co- founded the Go West Project. The Go West Project is a think tank focusing on emerging megacities.
Laid Sahraoui is GCL System Integration’s global marketing director. He is passionate about renewable and sustainable energy and puts this into actions through creativity and social values. Sahraoui has previously worked for Distri-elec as the Chief Marketing Officer; promoting unique hybrid containerized solar systems for African counties. Further, as General Manager for CP-Solar, Sahraoui lead the company to achieve tremendous growth for small and medium size turnkey solar solutions with extensive media campaigns, exhibitions and product strategy. He has spent almost a decade in China dedicating himself to this field. Sahraoui holds a masters degree from INSEEC group, majoring in marketing, finance and international trade.
Mathias Bienvenu Nyeck is Expert Consultant, specializing in Public Management, Decentralization & Local Development. He holds a postgraduate degree in Public Administration from Paris-Dauphine University and is a former student of the Institute of Political studies in Paris. He is the Founder of Africa Local Development (ADL), an association that works for the promotion of Decentralization and economic development of Local Authorities (Towns, Cities, and Regions). Expert Accredited with the Ministry of Public Contracts, he regularly participates in the commissions of analysis of the markets that it is in the field of the infrastructures as in that of the supplies, goods and services..
Bruno Lhopiteau is the founder of Siveco china, the country’s largest maintenance consultancy firm and a pioneer in the development of Maintenance 4.0 technologies, with a focus on mobile solutions ‘for the worker of tomorrow’. As an 18-year veteran of the Chinese maintenance market, Lhopiteau also sits on the board of several companies with plant and building engineering in China and lectures on Industrial Risk Management at the Sino-European School of Technology of Shanghai University.
Ada Shiferaw born in Ethiopia moved to china Beijing summer of 2009 to pursue bachelor’s degree in law. After completing law degree at Renmin university of china proceeded to work at Chinese academy of agricultural and sciences. Passionate about Africa china relations, working at CAAMS was a natural fit. Grateful of china’s interest in working with Africa’s development, Ada makes sure to connect the best projects with the right investors to bring the best possible outcome for both sides.
Buyambo Mantashe is a South African businessman that has interest in the agricultural sector. He is a farmer that has diversified interests in the sector from cattle and sheep breeding mainly for beef as well as mutton production. He is also involved in the poultry industry through production. He also is a shareholder in Claremont farming which is a company that runs a chain of abattoirs in South Africa, which is looking to expand into other African countries through the construction, and running of abattoirs. Lastly he is current enrolled at China Agricultural University completing his Masters in Agricultural Economics
That was the key message attendees went home with after 3hours of enlightening presentations and discussions on how the construction industry can improve on the quality and sustainability of the products they deliver.
The joint event by The French Chamber of Commerce (CCIFC) and The African Chamber of Commerce (AFCHAM) was organized on the evening of November 10th 2016 and brought together experts and stakeholders of the construction industry – the forefront of emerging economies in Africa.
The first keynote speaker Mr. Bruno Lhopiteau, founder of China’s largest maintenance consultancy SIVECO, walked the audience through the life span of products frequently delivered by construction companies, highlighting loopholes often neglected and the consequences of such negligence. Drawing from his rich experience in that business sector, he demonstrated how government entities could regulate the construction industry to ensure greater efficiency and sustainability in the facilities delivered by construction companies. Having worked with large construction companies of diverse backgrounds on multi-million dollar projects in many countries, he pointed out the importance of having partner companies on the field to follow up on the solutions offered to companies by SIVECO. Mr. Lhopiteau, in his light humoristic style presented the achievements of his company modestly although full of ambition and excitement with his growing influence and active involvement in the much talked about New Silk Road.
The second keynote speaker Mr. Louis-Marie Ebanga, founder and CEO of SHRLOMEN, a company based in Cameroon and specializing in electricity and energy related projects, explored the indispensable leading role of energy in the development of Africa in general and the construction industry in particular. Firstly, he drew everyone’s attention to the shortsighted perception of energy consumption being limited to the small utility bills we pay monthly. Then he brought to light the other kind of energy consumption, which he labeled indirect energy consumption usually not taken into consideration. He lambasted the much-touted green energy propaganda nowadays and iterated the reliability and sustainability of traditional energy sources like coal and hydropower. “Solar energy, wind energy can provide energy for household consumption but can not power a factory, let alone a whole industrial revolution in a country. African countries need reliable and sustainable energy in order to develop properly” the CEO emphasized. He then illustrated the above with hair-raising facts and figures about current energy needs in the entire continent of Africa, the future potential and investment opportunities available. Regarding quality electrical installations, he pointed out that the so-called international norms more often than not; don’t fit in the African context as they were established by non-African experts with little or no knowledge of the realities of Africa. His eye-opening presentation left many attendees yearning. He pledged to make more data on the subject available at the statistics department of The African Chamber of Commerce.
The evening ended with a networking session. Graced by excellent French wine and delicacies, participants chatted, made new friends and exchanged contact information until late. The organizers promised the event was only a warm up to a bigger event under the same theme planned for Beijing at the end of the month.
